See the world from another point of view with The Old School House Arts Centre’s first exhibition of 2015. Until the end of January, images from members of the Oceanside Photographers club will be on display in two of the TOSH galleries.
“You’ll see different levels of talent and different point of views,” said OP photographer Kevin McGuinness, who was voted the club’s Outstanding Photographer of the Year for 2014. “There’s everything imaginable.”
This fits in line with what the OP club is all about. According to club president Vivienne Bearder, the club is open to all photographers from beginners to professionals to receive “opportunities to learn and express yourself photographically.”
The group meets three times a month for three different meetings: once for an education meeting covering different techniques and camera settings, once for a general meeting where club business is taken care of and a presenter speaks on a photography subject, and once for a field trip to places like the Kathok Buddhist temple, Demex and Art Knapp. During these sessions, Bearder said members often help and give feedback to each other.
“We all share ideas,” explained McGuinness. “We feed off that.”
Bearder also said the club “is not limited to people with digital SLRs” and encourages their members to take better pictures with whatever equipment they have, including iPhones. “It’s about developing your eye,” she said.
McGuinness agrees. “Photography is about vision, not equipment,” he said.
Using the techniques learned from the club and general experience, Bearder said around 20 of the club’s 96 photographers produced almost 100 images for the exhibit. As an open show, there is a wide range of subjects, including flowers, wildlife, landscapes, still life, black and white.
Bearder also said that some of the images might be from the club’s monthly assignments, in which members have to photograph a specific topic or theme. “It makes you consider experimenting,” she explained. In the past, assignment have include frost, song title, soup can, macro and birds, and members can submit work in three categories: black and white, colour and digital (that is digitally manipulated).
“It makes you develop in those three sub-mediums,” said McGuinness. “Keeps you out of getting into a rut.”
Also, to give the whole show a more sleek and professional look, executive director of TOSH Corinne James said she asked all of the participating photographers to place their images on canvas or in black frames with white mats. “I’m very pleased,” she said of how everything looks.
“It’s very nice for people just starting in a medium to hang beside more experienced artists,” added James, saying that it can help an emerging artist gain “more confidence in their work.”
The OP show at TOSH opens with a reception on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. There is no admission fee to the event, which will include music, some refreshments and an opportunity to meet some of the photographers. The show will then stay up until the end of January.
For more information on the OP club, visit oceansidephotographers.ca.